A Pleasant Surprise?
by ksanka
Summary: When Hermione & Ron both want to buy the same broomstick & start Instant Messaging each other anonymously, interesting things are bound to happen! R&R! One-shot 4 now, but may b continued! :)


Hi peoples!

Um...hehe well, here is a bit of background on this story:

I originally wrote this as a short story 4 school & then i lost the competition thingy it was for, so i just decided to Harry Potter-fy it a bit! :D (The guy's name was actually Ron, but the girl was Kate, and it was an autographed football - u'll C what i mean)

It is just a short little ficlet, 1 Chappie, but if u want more (that means good REVIEWS) I can prob make it in2 a story. Hehe. (Speaking of reviewing - PLEASE R&R sil vous plait!) :)

So, without further ado...happy reading!

* * *

**A Pleasant Surprise?**   
  
Ron's 16th birthday was coming up next week, and Hermione Granger was worried. She had tried and tried to think up the perfect birthday present for Ron, but to no avail.

Plus, trying to keep her bushy brown hair straight was really starting to cause her headaches.  
  
Terribly afraid that Ron would break up with her for being such a horrible girlfriend, Hermione was running out of both time and options.  
  
Since they had been together at Hogwarts for 6 years and had already been dating for a year, he would be expecting her to know him just like the best friends they were.  
  
Looking about for ways to relieve her stress, she decided against visiting the Gryffindor Common Room, and instead sat down at her brand new muggle laptop computer and decided to check her e-mail; maybe there would be a letter from Ron that would make her feel considerably better.  
  
Clicking on her "**Inbox**" folder, Hermione found only one new e-mail, and was disappointed to discover it was not from her boyfriend, but from the Ministry of Magic Auction Website that was advertising their new items up for bidding.  
  
But Hermione was happy to find something to take her mind off Ron's gift and decided to look at it since it was probably the only e-mail she would receive all day.  
  
Hermione glanced at the various items up for bidding. Perhaps there would be some kind of portable lamp that could illuminate her homework better, or a new CD from the _Weird Sisters_ that might calm her down.  
  
Money was no matter for Hermione; she had finally decided to start charging people for her valuable homework help, and she had made quite a bit of Galleons.  
  
Suddenly, Hermione's eyes froze. Right in front of her was a picture of the perfect birthday present for Ron.  
  
Hermione knew Ron adored Quidditch more than anything in the world, and his favorite team was the Chudley Cannons. And in front of Hermione, there was a picture of a brand new Nimbus 2004 autographed by the entire team.  
  
Immediately, Hermione clicked on the link that led to the auction site.  
  
"_Please register a screen-name to bid under,"_ the site said.  
  
Hermione thought a bit. What should she call herself? After some pondering, she settled on, "**GR4evr**"  
  
Hermione blushed. She knew "_Granger and Ron Forever_" wasn't a very Hermione- ish screen-name, but she and Ron had carved it into a tree by the lake at Hogwarts, and besides, nobody would even think of her visiting a Ministry of Magic auction site.  
  
Hermione congratulated herself on the creativity of her screen-name and how brilliant she was to find such a wonderful web site by pouring herself a cup of coffee and treating herself to yet another re-read of _Hogwarts: "A History."  
_  
Now, she could finally buy Ron's gift. The last bid had been 50 Galleons, so Hermione brought it up to 55.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ron Weasley was barely awake inside the Gryffindor 6th Year Boys Dormitory, despite the fact that it was now well past noon. After all, it was a Saturday. He just hoped Hermione wasn't expecting him for breakfast in the Great Hall.  
  
Immediately after brushing his teeth, Ron remembered about the famous Nimbus 2004 Chudley Cannons-autographed broomstick he was bidding on at the Ministry of Magic auction site he had just found.  
  
Although Fred and George, his older twin brothers, did get on his nerves, he did owe them some gratitude. They had bought him his new laptop computer, and given him too many Galleons to count. Their new joke shop seemed to be doing hunky-dory.  
  
Forgetting all about combing his bright red hair that was currently standing on end, Ron dashed to his laptop and logged onto the Internet under his screen-name, "**CCauldRon**"  
  
Ron was actually very proud of himself for this screen-name – it had taken him a while to think up: The two C's represented the Chudley Cannons, a Cauldron Cake was on of Ron's favorite treats, and "Nor," was "Ron" spelled backward.  
  
_Oh, if only Hermione could see how bloody brilliant I've gotten over these past six years_! he thought, grinning to himself, although she probably wouldn't think of a screen-name as proof of his new found smartness.  
  
Ron was absolutely shocked to find that someone had topped his number one bid just overnight.  
  
He quickly offered 60 Galleons. About thirty seconds later, the broomstick was worth 70.  
  
Ron raised an eyebrow; he would prove to this "**GR4evr**" bidder that he himself was the bigger, more devoted Chudley Cannons fan.  
  
Imagine someone loving Hogwarts inter-house unity so much as to put "_Gryffindor and Ravenclaw Forever_" in their screen-name. But Ron didn't have much time to think over this thought, for the bidding was going very quickly, and fifteen minutes later Ron found himself giving up over 100 Galleons for the autographed piece of Quidditch equipment.  
  
He decided to Instant Message his competition; maybe the person would back off once he was befriended.  
  
"How's it going?" Ron typed...  
  
Hermione was quite surprised to see that the main person she was bidding against was actually sending her Instant Messages.  
  
This "**CCauldRon**" person obviously has some spelling problems, she thought. She was tempted to type back "I believe the proper spelling is 'cauldron'," but decided that wouldn't be very friendly.  
  
Of course the bidder would be a guy; Hermione had never heard of a girl who wanted a broomstick so much that she was willing to pay over 100 Galleons for it, except Hermione herself, who was only buying this for her boyfriend. Nevertheless, Hermione decided to respond to **CCauldRon**, just to be polite.  
  
There was a brief pause and then a response came back from **GR4evr**: "Fine, how about you?"  
  
"Pretty good," **CCauldRon** replied.  
  
By eight-o-clock that evening, Ron had bags under his eyes; he had spent the entire day sitting at the computer bidding for the same football as before. He hoped he hadn't promised to spend the day with Hermione; he couldn't remember.  
  
But **GR4evr** seemed to understand him very well; they had discussed so many things that Ron felt he would never have told anyone else, and they were still continuing their conversation.  
  
"I have always wanted a Chudley Cannons-signed broomstick," typed **CCauldRon**.  
  
"Really? Uh...me too," came the response from **GR4evr**, who was trying to sound intelligently manly.  
  
"I think the Chudley Cannons are bloody brilliant, but I don't like the Tornados very much," answered **CCauldRon**.  
  
"Nor do I," typed **GR4evr**.  
  
"Nor? Haha, that is my name backwards," continued **CCauldRon**.  
  
Hermione let out a small gasp and almost spilled her evening cup of coffee. **CCauldRon** loved the Chudley Cannons? His name was Ron?  
  
Of course Hermione had communicated with Ron by e-mail; he was her boyfriend, after all. But she had never known he used Instant Messenger as well. Now she began feeling quite a bit angry with Ron for him not telling her previously that they could chat using it.  
  
But now was not the time to worry about such trivialities; Hermione had to outbid Ron! This was the only gift that was possible to buy him for his birthday.  
  
She noticed that there were thirty seconds left in the auction. Quickly, Hermione let **CCauldRon** know that she had to leave, and soon Hermione found herself offering 300 Galleons for the piece of Quidditch equipment, and the broomstick was hers.  
  
But should she tell Ron that she was **GR4evr** right now? How would she explain to him when he opened his gift that she was the one who had given him advice? Hermione decided that she should just probably wait and see what would happen.

* * *

A week later, Hermione smiled at Ron nervously as he looked at the large, wrapped package Hermione had just placed in his arms.  
  
Curiously, Ron tugged at the bow on top of the package, and all the wrapping paper came off. There, in his arms, sat the Chudley Cannons-signed Nimbus 2004 he had always wanted, and it looked exactly like the one he had bid for, but lost.  
  
Ron looked at Hermione with a blank stare.  
  
"Bloody hell! Thanks, 'Mione! How did you find this?"  
  
Hermione pondered her reply for a moment, mentally giggling inside at Ron's slight stupidity, and finally decided not to ruin Ron's birthday. "I have my ways," she answered.  
  
She leaned forward and gave him a light kiss. He was still staring blankly at the broomstick. But as Ron and Hermione spent the rest of Ron's birthday together, the broomstick was completely forgotten, save for one very romantic moonlight ride above the Quidditch Pitch.  
  
Only later did Ron wonder why GR4evr never answered any of his Instant Messages anymore.

* * *

THE END!!!

Thank u 4 taking time out of ur busy life (or lives i guess if there are somehow more than one of u?) 2 read my little ficlet!

Hehe did u like it? Or perhaps u hated & despised it? Please READ & REVIEW! :D


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